


the longest shadows ever cast

by driedvoices



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-13
Updated: 2012-05-13
Packaged: 2017-11-05 06:30:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/403411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/driedvoices/pseuds/driedvoices
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the <a href="http://kh-drabble.livejournal.com">kh_drabble</a> prompt [185]: heatwave. The Destiny Trio spend some time at the beach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the longest shadows ever cast

The waves are white-capped and they seem to be trying to stretch themselves to the sun. Sora watches as Kairi shrieks when the water crashes over her head and Riku laughs, hair damp and sticking to the back of his neck. 

It's hotter than it's ever been, or maybe he's just been away too long to remember; what if the trees had always sagged under the weight of the humid air, and what if everyone had always wilted into porch-swings with makeshift fans of novels and magazines? He wonders if would make the islands any less his home if he couldn't remember. 

Kairi shuffles up to him, and he studies the sand sticking to her shins, follows the lines of her body until he's squinting up at her face, a bright red eclipse against the sun. "Aren't you going to swim?" she asks, in her knowing voice, the one that says she _knows_.

Sora shakes his head and smiles gently. "I don't think so. Not today."

Kairi shrugs and slumps down beside him, pulls her knees up to her chest. She looks so very small, which doesn't seem right, because in Sora's head red hair and bony limbs equal tall and pale (which doesn't seem right, because what has Kairi ever been if not soft and tan and familiar like a favorite t-shirt?). 

Riku, still swallowed in the vastness of the ocean, shields his face with his hand to look for them. Sora waves him over and he obliges, hopping over the tiny waves that break close to the shore and pull the sand out from under you. "Gonna get a sunburn," he says softly, poking Sora's pink shoulder lightly. 

"Nah," Sora says, and lets out a sigh, staring out at the reddening sky. "You could have kept swimming."

"It was getting cold anyway," Riku says, knocking sand off his arm. Kairi snorts, and almost certainly would have said something like _then why are you sweating?_ but Riku drops a sand crab on her leg and Sora watches as she amuses herself by trying to keep it from skittering off. 

"We should probably head back soon," Sora murmurs, closing his eyes and lying back with his arms crossed behind his head. 

"No," Kairi corrects him, "Not just yet." She wriggles onto her back and yanks Riku's arm, gesturing for him to do the same. None of them really wanted to go, anyway. 

They watch as the sun paints the sea a hazy mess of oranges and pinks, a great red ring that looks like it could devour every world Sora's ever seen. He places his hand over his heart, and it feels like something gives way underneath his fingers (something like a sigh). He feels Kairi nod beside him, and Riku's steady breathing seems to echo like an earthquake. And these are the islands he remembers, with the tangibly hot air pressing down on you, with the ever-constant sting on his skin reminding him to wear sunscreen next time, with the somewhat unpleasant itch of sand always present.

It always feels more like home when the sun sets. Somewhere, far away and very, very close, a smile echoes across his ribcage.


End file.
